Advisory Council meeting to discuss judging committee reports

Monday January 11th, 2010 witnessed the meeting of Sheikh Zayed Book Award’s advisory Council, which were held to study the results of the judging committee in the various branches of the award, and agree on the winners of its fourth session . The number of nominated works was 693, and it was filtered to 339 work which met the Award’s requirements and standards, and which were sent to the judges in mid September, 2009. The committees submitted their reports on final nominations, which included the first three nominations for each branch of the Award to the Advisory Council in order for it to study these reports, decide on final results and present them to the Higher Executive Committee for approval. It is worth mentioning that the Award’s Advisory Council had solicited a large number of specialised judges who are well recognized for their competence, excellence and objectivity. Commenting on the fourth session, Mr. Rashed Al Oraimi, Award Secretary General said:” the process of evaluating submissions and selecting winners has been characterized with the highest level of transparency, impartiality and absolute discretion, because judges were chosen carefully in accordance to rigorous standards and each report is reviewed to ensure it fully abides by the Award terms and conditions. He added that the names of members of the judging committee will remain confidential until the winners are announced in March 2010.